THE STYLE OF LOUIS XII. 



35 



reversed. Secular architec- 

 ture leads and church archi- 

 tecture follows, though often 

 lagging behind. In France 

 the chateau supplants the 

 church as the most finished 

 product of building art. 



Two reasons explain the 

 comparative rarity of ex- 

 amples of church work show- 

 ing Italian influence in the 

 period under consideration. 

 It was not a great church- 

 building age, and the major 

 part of the church building 

 carried out was unaffected 

 by the movement which was 

 transforming secular archi- 

 tecture. Church building 

 slackened at this period, 

 partly because the enormous 

 activity of the previous cen- 

 turies left little need for new 

 places of worship, partly be- 

 cause the Church lacked the 

 moral force to create enthusi- 

 asm. Morally as well as 

 intellectually she was no 

 longer the only, nor even the 

 principal leader : politically 

 she was becoming more and 

 more subject to the civil 

 power. Little but their 

 costumes distinguished the 



clergy from others of their respective class. They were often worldly, 

 if not vicious and superstitious, and the more prominent churchmen 

 were distinguished rather for political ability or secular learning than for 

 piety and spiritual zeal. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries 

 the French Church produced no prominent saint or theologian, except 

 such as, after the beginning of the Reformation movement, had leanings 

 to the unauthorised doctrines, and she allied herself as a whole with 

 the forces of obscurantism. 



PERSISTENCE OF GOTHIC. The building done consisted largely in 



31- 



CHARTRES CATHEDRAL : 

 CHOIR SCREEN. 



DETAIL OF 



